Current-regulator.



lo. szasl. n i Pa'nma may 7, |901.

J. P. eme. n

CURRENT REGULATOR.

`llll-llllllbn UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.v

JAMES PHILIP ERIE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO rlHE ERIE EXPLO-RATION COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE-AND DOVER, DELAWARE.

CURRENT-REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,391, dated May 7,1901. Application filed January 4. 190].. Serial ]o42.,099. (No model.)

To cir/ZZ L11/tom, t waa/y concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES PHILIP ERIE, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and usefullmprovements in Current-Regulators, of which thefollowing is a specification. I

My invention relates to current-regulators, and has for its object toimprove and simplify lo such devices and adapt them for the purposesmore particularly set forth hereinafter; and to these ends my inventionconsists in the various features of construction and arrangement ofparts adapted to operate substan tially as hereinafter more particularlyset forth;

Referring to the accompanyingv drawings, Figure l is a face view of thedevice, the rotating disk or brush carrier being partly zo broken awayto show the segmentplates.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation with the operatinghandle removed to bettershow the parts and showing the rheostat and connections more in detail,and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the medium plane ofthe device.

While my present invention is adapted for use in many and variousrelationsA wherein it is desired to control or regulate an electric 3ocurrent and While the details of construction of the device may bevaried from those shown and described in order to adapt it for varioususes, it is intended more particularly for use in connection with acurrent-regulator of the 3 5 general type more fully set forth anddescribed in my application, Serial No. 30,346,

filed September 17, 1900; and the particular object of my presentinvention is to provide improved Ineans for cutting off or controllingthe current supplied to the translating device, so that the Vcurrent isallowed to flow to the translating device during short intervals, whichintervals follow each other in rapid succession, and which intervals maybe longer or shorter, as required to produce the desired effect.

A further object of my present invention is to avoid the injuriouseffects caused by the spark produced in breaking the circuit.

5o The construction shown and presently to be.

described can be used in connection with the circuits arrangedsubstantially as shown in my prior application above referred to, and Ido not deem it necessary herein to illustrate and describe such circuitsin detail, and of course the device may be used in connection with otherarrangements of circuits and, in fact, in any circuit where it isdesired to accomplish theresults intended. Among other uses to whichitmay be applied is in connec- 6o tion with the conversion of alternatinginto direct currents, which direct currents are controlled or deliveredto the translating devices at intervals of greater or less length orcontinuously, as may be desired.

With this general statement of the objects of my invention I will now`proceed to describe more in detail the present embodiment thereofillustrated in the accompanying drawings. 7o y Mounted on a suitablebase A, which is preferably of insulating material, is a standard orsupport B', in which is fixedly supporteda shaft or rod C. The upperportion B' of the standard is of suitable shape, pref- 75 erably beingextended, as shown, and is provided with a series of openings b,arranged around the shaft C, the purpose of which will hereinafter beexplained. Mounted to rotate on the shaft O is a disk or plate D, thebody 8o of which is preferably of insulating material, and arrangedaround the periphery thereof are a series of segments E E E2, dac.,which are insulatedV from each other, and which in the'present instance'are shown as having two 85 bearing or contact faces, one of which, e,is in the form of a groove in the periphery of the segments, and theother of`Which, e', is on the extended face of the segments.

Some vmeans must be provided for making 9o electric contact with asegment or a number of segments on the disk D, and in the presentinstance I showa flexible contact device in the form of a band F, oneend of which is secured to one of the segments in any suitable way, asto the segment E, by means of a screw c2, while the other end of theband is secured to some suitable take-up device-as, for instance, a drumG, which is suitably mounted on a shaft G in the extension B2 of thestandroo ard and is connected to some means for keeping the drum understress, shown in the pres- -ent instance in the form of a coiled springH,

the number of segments so in contact and included in the circuit can beadjusted and regulated by adjusting the disk D.

While any suitable means may he used for adjusting the disk or plate Dso as to include more or less of the segments in contact with theflexible contact F, I have shown a plate or arm. I, loosely mounted.upon the shaft C and connectedy with the disk D in any suitable way, asby the pin 1l, and this arm is provided With an. opening if,corresponding in position with the annular ring. of openings. Z1 in theystandard B. rlhi's arm I may be held i-n proper position on the shaftbyany suitg' effect of thespark.

able means, as bya collar J, and further mountedon the. shaft C is ano-perating de- "segment, E onto the. segment O, and' I'have divided thesegment 0 into a number of small segments and: connected between thesesegy ments circuit resistance devices, so. that the circuit Will not becompletelybroken at once,

vice or handle,.shown in theform ofa hand- Wheel K, preferably ofinsulating materiali, having secured thereto a plate K, recessed toreceive the collar J, and provided.- with a pin Zo, adapted to engage.the opening/Z inthe arm I, so that the hand-.Wheel and arm Will movetogether, and thus moveandadjust'the disk D circumferentially on itsaxis.

In order to lock the parts in their adjusted positions, the hand-Wheel Kis arranged. to

.slide longitudinally on the shaft C, and the pin Zr isof such lengththatwhen in properI position it Will engage the. opening t" in the arm Ibut when the hand-Wheel is: moved toward the. standard B: into. the.position shown in Eig. 3. the pin Zt also. engages one or the other ofthe openings b inv the. standard, and itfwill thusbeiseen that the-diskis securely locked and held in. its adjusted position. When it is.desired toA release thesame, the hand-Wheel K is. moved outward on theshaft C until ,the pin Za becomes. disengagedfrom the. opening b, andiWhileA still engaging the opening t" of.` the armfI the. hand-Wheel,arm, and d-isk may. be turned' in eitherdirection, as desired, tosecuretheproper adjustment ofthe segments. andzagain locked in position.

A thu m b-nutv K24 or other f suitable device. is placed on the shaft Cin suchapositionas to permitl thelhand-wheel K toslidethereon the properdistance and prevent its-disengagement from. the arm Ilv through themedium of the pin Za.

Ihn order tosupply current tothe segments, various` means: maybe. used,which may-be causedf, to.. pass over the faceof the seg ments insuccessioni; but: in the` presentconstrue,

tion I haveshownadisk or p-lateL, Which is mounted on. an.insulating-hub'L', securedto a shaft L2, which may be. thearmature-shaft of-'anlelectric motor or other device, by mea-ns ofvvhichA the disk or plate may be caused to face of the segments, and thedisk is also in the present instance provided with a fia-nge Z', againstthe periphery of which a carbonl `brush or block Z2 bears, it beingshown as nmounted in a case Z3 and supported by a spring Z4and connectedbya plate Z5 to a binding-post Z6. Other means of supplying currenttothe disk may be used, but I find this l extremely satisfactory andeffective. The other terminal of the circuit may be suitably connectedwith the segments,and I have shown a binding-post b' mounted on the baseor vstandardl and the connection is through the shaft G to the drum G,and thence through 'the flexible contact F to the segments with whichilt is incontact. vIn the ,useof a device of this character when thecircuit is broken jthei-e is. liable to. be av spark, which is detrifmental and destructive andV otherwise objectionable, and in orderto.avoid these'di'sadvantages I provide means for overcoming the Inthisinstancethe spark (if any). occurs as the brush Z passes off the but aseries of resistancesfwilil be in troduccd f into the circuit before itis actually broken. 'Various connection-s may be madzef whereby lthisis. accomplished, and: in. the deviceshownfIi connect the segment E,for. instance, toa A Qring-R onthe daislkforplateD, and; the portion0.of segment@ to-a ringRf, and the portions o. o? to the. rings R2 RS,respectively, and I .provideso mev means, as the spring-lingers r r.' r2r3, which are suitably insulated from each other andi from. thestandard-and vwhich bear upon the respective rings and make connectionwiththeir" respective seg- -mentsvthateven may be the position of;V thedisk D'.

The. rheostat or resistance 4may be of; any

jsu-itableconstructions but as: shown it comprisesa bOX S, in Whicharemounted anum- `ber of-insulating-strips s s .S2-8.3, die., Wound withwire-ofsui table resistance and connected tobinding-posts. onthezboxf, and these posts areconnectedA to the spring-lingers in. theman-.ner indicated. Thus. the linger r, bearing-on the ring R',connectedV tothe segment E, is connected: to the lirstbinding-post, and

l thefi-ngerfr, bearingon the ringR, connected tothe segmento, isconnectedff tothe second vbinding-post, and; the others. aresim-i-larlyconnected.

Irfifnd: by: experiment that. i-tfis.-best tolinztrodfuce'into'thecircuit.a relatively sm-all= re. sistance and togradually increase the same until the resistance isininiterorthebreak iscompleted', andWhileI amfnottlimited to any IOO IIO

particular resistance in. actual practice the .insulating-strips isWorind so that when the brush Z passes froml theisegmentE tothe segmento a resistance of six ohms is introduced between the segments,and as thebrush passes to segment o a resistance of eighteen ohms is introduced,and as it passes to segment o2 a resistance of sixty-tive ohms isincluded between the adjacent segments. This arrangement of resistancesis effective to choke or neutralize the current producing the spark, sothat when the brush Z passes onto the next segment, completely breakingthe circuit, no appreciable spark will occur.

Such being the general construction of the device, its operation will beunderstood by those skilled in the art, and it will be seen that thedisk D can be adjusted in any desired position, so that the iiexiblecontact F will progressively include or exclude a greater or less numberof segments E E E2, dac., it being shown in the present instance incontact with the segments from E to E8 and all of these segments from Eto E8 will be supplied with current, so that when the brush l inrotating comes in contact with the face of the segment EB the circuitwill becompleted and remain completed until the brush passes off theface of the segment E, and then when the resistance or rheostat deviceis used the circuit still remains completed through the rheostat untilthe brush Z passes off the segment o2. The remaining segments being outof circuit, no current will pass during the movement of the brush Zoversuch segments. In this way it will be seen that a very accurate andeasily-adjusted device is provided whereby the intervals of the` breaksmay be nicely and satisfactorily regulated so as to include one or moreof the segments, as desired.

It will be understood that when the disk is turned to cut out a numberof segments the spring H will wind up the flexible contact F and keep itunder tension and in contact with the peripheries of the desired numberof segments.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of my invention withoutlimiting myself to the exact construction and arrangement described,what I claim is l. A current-regulator, comprising a movable series ofsegments, a iiexible-band contact connected to one of the segments, andmeans for bringing the band into engagement with or disengaging it fromthe segments progressively, substantially as described.

2. A current-regulator, comprising a rotatable disk having a series ot'segments, a ilexible contact connected to one of the segments, and meansfor holding the flexible contact under tension, whereby the flexiblecontact may positively engage more or less of the segmentsprogressively, substantially as described.

3. In a current-regulator, the combination with a disk having a seriesof segments, of a flexible contact one end of which is connected to oneof the segments, a drum under tension to which the other end of thecontact is connected, and means for adjusting the disk, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a current-regulator, the combination with a rotatable diskcarrying a number of segments, of a flexible contact connected to one ofthe segments, means for supporting the flexible contact under tensionagainst the segments, and means for rotating the disk and securing it inposition, substantially as described.

5. In a current-regulator, the combination with a rotatable diskcarrying segments, of an arm connected to the disk and having anopening, and a handle provided with a pin engaging said opening,substantiallyr as described.

6. In a current-regulator, a standard having openings, a shaft mountedin the standard, a disk mounted on the shaft, an arm also mounted on theshaft and connected to the disk and provided with an opening, and ahandle provided with a pin to engage the opening in the arm and in thestandard, substantially as described.

7. In a current-regulator, the combination with a disk provided with aseries of segments, of a rotating disk provided with a brush and havinga fiange, and a contactbrush bearing on the flange, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a current-regulator, the combination with a disk provided with aseries of segments, of a rotating disk, a brush carried by the disk andbearing on the segments, and a Spring-,actuated contact-brush bearing onthe periphery of said rotating disk, substantially as described.

9. In a current-regulator, a disk the body of which is of insulatingmaterial having a number of segments mounted thereon, the segments beingprovided with a peripheral groove and a fiat face, substantially asdescribed.

10. In a current-regulator, a disk the body of which is of insulatingmaterial having a series of segments mounted thereon, the segmentshaving a peripheral groove, in combination with a iiexible contactconnected to one of the segments and adapted to bear in the groove,substantially as described.

1l. In a current-regulator, the combination with a disk provided with anumber of segments, of means for including a greater or less number ofsegments in the circuit, acircuit-breaking device, and means foravoiding sparking by progressively introducing resistance into thecircuit prior to its ultimate break, substantially as described.

l2. In acurrent-regulator, the combination with a series of'segmentsmore or less of which may be included in a circuit, of a circuitbreakercoperating With the segments and means for avoiding sparking, comprisinga series of insulated variable-resistance devices, whereby as thecircuit is broken resistance will be progressively included in thecircuit, substantially as described.

IOO

IIO

in the circuit, aseries of insulated segments, rings connectedto saidsegments, spring-1ingers bearing on the rings, a resistance deviceconnected to they spring-fingers, and means for breaking the circuit andprogressively including the resistance in the circuit before finalbreaking, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses. Y

JAMES PHILIP ERIE. Witnesses:

W. CLARENCE DUvALL, F. L. FREEMAN.

